How can the Reds’ brass try to create buzz without a major signing? The best way to sell season tix is a big off season story. The need to put the horse before the cart if they want to gain the trust of the fans…I get it with the budget…but if they want us to have faith in them…spend a few bucks (I know it won’t happen).

Ask Twins fans how they liked the results last season after all the extra money was spent. Ask the Red Sox nation how they like Carl Crawford or the Nats fans and Jayson Werth. Money spent doesn’t always equal titles. It’s smart trades, development and roster management.

Give Cordero a 2 year deal worth about 7 million a year with a buyout after the first year of about 2 million. That way if he doesn’t get the job done, you buy him out and he still gets 9 million basically for that one year. If he still has it, then you got him at a good deal. Then either 2013 or 2014 you give the job to hopefully Boxberger or ummm, Bailey with a changeup?

Agreed though, I don’t need a big signing. I just want smart moves for guys with a lot of potential. Not getting guys like Renteria, Patterson, or Taveras that really have no upside except for the stats on their baseball cards.

How about left field? Or a starter with the quality stuff of Cueto or better? An everyday third baseman. Lots of needs and places to make a splash, if prudent. I would like to see a bit of a shake-up, somehow, but anything management does needs to improve the team. How to be sure? The budget just means the Reds don’t have enough money to make a mistake and have the team okay anyway.

Is Walt Jocketty even in the office this month? I know they said they were not going after free agents this year which is ok considering the ones they picked up the past two offseasons were _______. But is he even doing anything that will help the Reds future? I for one am getting very bored of waiting for him to do something. Mark, make up a rumor, tell us he is in talks with a team trying to pick up their number one starter, anything! I hate waiting and then finding out his big moves are for players that no other team wants. It is hard to stay excited about a team when that happens every year! Just once I would like to read that the Reds are trying to make some serious moves to improve the team.

I think their everyday position players are fine with what they have. The Reds seem to have guys for the holes they have (like Heisey for LF and Cozart for SS) and capable backups. I think the money they spend needs to be used in the bullpen (need a LH if Chapman is starting) and for a closer. I hope a trade can be made for someone like a James Sheilds, Trevor Cahill, or Gio Gonzalez because we were a .500 team since our starters did not perform up to the expectations that were set.

This is not a good team. A lot of us have managed to fool ourselves. Time to let the older players [Cordero, Hernandez, Renteria] go their way. There will be no division titles on the immediate horizon. Start pushing the “big plan” back a couple of years and use the money freed up to prepare for that, not an expensive closer for already ill-fated 2012. Yes…I know…my pessimism is run amuck this afternoon. Check back in several hours. I may then be more upbeat!

Denny – Pushing the big plan back a couple of years means a plan with no Joey Votto. If that’s the case, make the move now. I thinks there’s lots of room for big splashy moves – the question is, will they really help the team? It’s fun to move the pieces around in our minds – I’ll still have a job (I hope) if the Reds finish last. Walt’s not in that position. With all the constraints on him and the miniscule margin for error, it’s easy (for me) to cut the guy some slack.

I too feel it is highly unlikely that Votto is here after a year or two, but one thing is for sure, your approach would not leave money for holding him here if any chance of that were to present itself. Moreover, I don’t see any chance that obtaining a closer or resigning Cordero will make much difference. There are far too many problems now. We are all familiar with the long list of inadequacies and on-going experiments, but the one that I hear no one addressing is this: even if a whole host of things were to fall into place, we are looking at having untested rookies at one and one-half positions that just happen to be the most significant defensive positions on the diamond, at shortstop and something approaching half the catching duties. That means we are rebuilding yet again, with no chance of competing in the next few years. Be smart. Push the plan back those years at least. And, if I follow you, I wasn’t failing to cut Walt some slack. To the contrary. All I’m saying is that many things have not panned out, forcing a mid-course change in direction that postpones the destination for some time.

But Denny – suppose you push the plan back a couple of years, and Phillips and Votto are gone. And now Alonso’s contract is almost up or Leake’s or Francisco’s or, and so forth. Put off the plan again? It seems to me the fundamental decision Walt’s gotta make is this decision: try to return to the playoffs next year, presumably Joey’s last with the Reds, or set one’s sights on 2014, when the young talent will have sorted itself out. I’m sure I don’t know the answer, but the second option calls for trading Joey now. And Phillips. And letting Cordero go. And so forth. Doesn’t it?

I think our differences come down to this: you see a chance with this group to get to the playoffs; I don’t. Part of it is what I had earlier elaborated: rookies at shortstop and catcher can’t possibly yield what we desire. Beyond that, you have unsettled situations at every other position except first, second, and right. Moreover, the pitching relies on a revived Arroyo, a maturing Bailey, and a Volquez who can consistently find the plate. If you think all those are going to work out in our favor, then I’ve got the Brooklyn Bridge or swamp land in Florida all ready for your purchase. And not even yet mentioning the absolute mess that is the bullpen, with or without Cordero. Whether by design or not, the rebuilding has ensued of necessity. And the fact that it may end up being perpetual is the plight of small markets. Yes, we have entered onto the treadmill that Pittsburgh has been unable to get off of for two decades. And, the hard truth is that we’ve already been on it for more than a decade too. 2010 was an utter fluke.

Hey if the Reds can get top prospects for them go for it. But from what I have read lately there are no deals like that out there. Teams are really holding onto their top prospects and not even players like Joey Votto are getting them to budge. I seriously think most players that are free agents this season will probably go back to their old teams with a pay cut.

Denny – the young talent gives the Reds a window of opportunity to get off the treadmill, like the Rays have done. The question is, is Joey;s departure the closing of that window. If so, then win at all costs now. If not, then carefully pick your way through the minefiled of minor league gold / major league busts, and hope for the kind of luck that’ll get me swamp land in the sunshine state.

I think that “window of opportunity” was never as wide as many assumed, and it is only raised a bit now, not enough to let the breeze of hope in to refresh the treadmill struggler. Okay, enough of that. Yes, all teams have “ifs,” but we have far too many. If rookies work out at the two most significant defensive posts…if Stubbs can alter his hitting approach…if Alonso can adequately man left field (I doubt it)…if Rolen is healthy…if the starters can rebound and stay largely injury-free…if we have a closer…if the rest of the bullpen can improve and on and on. Simply put, no chance to win even if Votto is here for two more years. That was the real message of 2011. Recalculate the plan, or we will slip more than a notch or two into the kind of morass that was the early 1980s, the late 1990s excluding ’99, and much of the decade of the 2000s.

Archives

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.